By Amy Barton

Meringues can be a little intimidating, can't they?  Sure, they're a cookie by technical standards.  But they're light as air, somehow crunchy and delicate at the same time - they're a whipped egg white confection.  Maybe most daunting of all, they're French.  *gasp*  I'll be the first to admit that French cuisine is a little intimidating (hell, it's already "cuisine" instead of just "cooking" or "food"), but meringues are one instance where they're surprisingly easier than you might think.  If they weren't, they certainly wouldn't be showing up on my blog.  You have my word on this one.  And look, they can also be whimsical.  They don't have to be fancy-schmancy.  Yes, I'll say it: They can be the F-word.  Meringues can be fun.

So go for it.  Have a little fun.  Cook up a little love.  Click "Read More" to view the recipes and photo instructions.  xoxo

By Amy Barton

Raspberry. Coconut.  Macaroons.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.   Rejoice.  What does this mean?  First off, they're gluten free, so that means a whole bunch of people with gluten intolerance and dietary restrictions can enjoy these treats.  Secondly, they're ridiculously easy to make.  The grand finale?  Look at them!  Aren't they gorgeous?!  They're a perfect Valentine's Day treat.  Did I mention they're gorgeous?

This is a recipe I can't take credit for.  The credit goes to smittenkitchen, a site I absolutely adore.  You can see the original recipe here.

I had a request this year.  "Could you suggest something semi-healthy, easy, and maybe gluten free too?"  Maybe that's three requests.  Regardless, you know I'm up for it!  These fall into the semi-healthy rather than the completely healthy category because there IS refined sugar in it.  I often make substitutions, and this recipe is no different.  I switched out the sugar for Splenda.  I'm posting the recipe as it originally appeared, though.  Ready?  Let's get our 'roon on!

INGREDIENTS
-  14 ounces sweetened flaked coconut (one whole bag, as pictured)
-  2/3 cup granulated sugar (or equivalent sweetener of choice)
-  3 large egg whites
-  heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
-  1/2 teaspoon almond extract
-  1/2 pint (6 ounces, or 1 1/4 cups, or one small clamshell) fresh raspberries

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.  In a food processor, blend your coconut for a minute to get it into slightly smaller pieces.  Add your egg whites (make sure you separate them into a bowl first, just in case you break a yolk - you don't want to get broken yolk into the blender), salt, and almond extract.  Blend to combine well.  At this point, you want to add your raspberries.  BUT WAIT.  Be careful!  Add them in and just pulse your blender in short bursts.  You want the raspberries to blend, but you don't want them completely blended in.  This way, you'll still have some white left and the colors will be gorgeous when you scoop them out.  Don't stir them together!

If you have an extra small ice cream scooper or cookie scoop, now is the time to use it.  If you don't, don't fret!  Just use a tablespoon to measure out the cookies.  Scoop them out one by one, in mounds that are about one inch.  Since these aren't the kind of cookies that will rise as they bake, you can put them pretty close to each other on the cookie sheet.  Scoop them any way you like- but as you can see, I loved having some all purplish ones and some marbled ones.  Hey, did I mention how gorgeous they are?

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Mine were on the larger side, so I let them go for the entire 30 minutes - until they looked just a little toasted on top (another benefit of leaving some white spots).  Let them rest on the baking sheet for ten minutes after you take them out.  If you're not using your baking sheets for anything else, you can leave them on there to cool completely if you'd like.  Whatever you do, do not remove them from the baking sheet the second you take them out of the oven - they'll crumble.  As they cool, they'll firm up a bit but still be lusciously chewy and coconutty and lovely on the inside.  The raspberries lend a beautiful moisture to these - they're not quite as dry on the inside as your regular coconut macaroon.

That's it!  You're all done!  Unless you're me.  Then you're never satisfied.  As gorgeous as these macaroons are, I had to make them even more Valentines-y.  What to do, what to do... 

OH!  WHITE CHOCOLATE!

So, this is simple.  If you want to drizzle chocolate over your 'roons (I made that up just now), or pipe a little design on the top, it's super simple.  Take a gallon plastic bag.  Put a handful of white chocolate chips down in one corner of the bag.  Put the bag in the microwave and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, until the chocolate is melted enough to be squeezed out of the bag (don't microwave too long or you'll scorch the chocolate - keep an eye on it!).

Hello, easy!  From here, just take a pair of scissors and snip of the very tip of the corner.  The more the snip, the larger the hole will be, and the bigger the line of chocolate will be that comes out of the bag.  Decorate 'til your heart's content!

I suggest tossing them in the fridge for a few minutes to get the chocolate to harden up faster.  But you definitely don't have to.  You can move them directly from the plate into your mouth.

Now put those puppies out and let the raving begin!  But hey, don't come cryin' to me when you have to make them again... and again and again and again.  People LOVE these things.  Actually.. Just double the batch.

By Amy Barton

I'll go out on the cliche ledge and say it:  Guacamole belongs at any party.  Most of all, it belongs in your hands and mouth for the duration of every Super Bowl ever played.  It's just one of those culinary rules of life.  I've long been known among my friends and family as "the best guac maker ever."  Not gonna lie... I'm pretty good.  What I'm sharing is my basic guacamole recipe.  You can jazz it up any way you'd like.

What makes mine so different?  I like it chunky, baby!  I need substance.  I need girth.  I need something to chew on.  I need a zesty green party in my mouth.  There's also a secret ingredient hiding in the silky goodness. 

INGREDIENTS
-  4 ripe avocados
-  2 medium tomatoes, diced small
-  1/2 large red onion, chopped fine
-  fresh cilantro, one bunch (or dried cilantro to taste - start with 3-4TBSP)
-  3 green onions, chopped
-  juice of 2 limes
-  1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
-  1 TBSP garlic powder (or garlic salt - if using garlic salt, adjust additional plan salt accordingly)
-  2 tsp ground cumin (secret ingredient alert)
-  salt and pepper, to taste
-  hot sauce; optional

DIRECTIONS
Peel avocados and remove pits, discard.  Cut into large chunks, add to large bowl.  Add diced tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and green onions.  Squeeze lime juice into your bowl - watch out for seeds!  Add olive oil, garlic powder (or salt), ground cumin, salt, and pepper.  If desired, add favorite hot sauce, to taste.  Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon, large fork, or spatula.  You want your guacamole to be creamy-feeling when you eat it, but the point here is to leave some large chunks - so don't go to town mashing your avocado!  The olive oil and stern hand when mixing will get it as luxurious as you'd like it be while still leaving some avocado chunks.  Think of it as guacasalsa.  Or salsamole.

Get ready to dunk!  Much like other dips/spreads/snacks/condiments, I really don't need to dip anything in this.  I'm perfectly happy eating it directly from my spoon.  Just be sure you're tasting it along the way.  Guacamole is very forgiving - you can easily add more lime juice, garlic, cilantro, onion, or hot sauce and stir that baby up again!

Nutritional Info, per serving (makes 8 servings): 145 calories, 12g fat, 10g carb, 5.5g fiber, 2g protein